Tinker scowled and looked searchingly at his companion. He didn't seem to like what Hammerhand had said but he also appeared to know he had one hell of a good point. It seemed an odd discussion to have since they’d already decided to remove Athena from her position of power.
Perhaps this simply was an attempt to establish a realistic view of what would happen in the area if Athena was defeated. It presented an intriguing side of the Knights’ leader that reminded her how little she really knew the individual members of the group. He’d always been so fixed in vision, and it surprised her to see that he did, in fact, think beyond simply liberating people and worried about their future as well. When she thought about that, she realized that it made him a better and a stronger man.
"Well, these people need us to remove Athena and we will," Hammerhand said finally. He looked around and noticed her watching them but didn’t seem to have any reaction to her uninvited witness to their conversation. "Thereafter, we can perhaps help them to establish some form of government so they can interact with each other. Maybe they could make the centralized bunker a capital of sorts that would allow them all to work together for each other’s benefit."
"It’s a process that could take years," Tinker pointed out. "And that's if we manage to eliminate Athena quickly and cleanly. While it’s unlikely, knowing her, she might run before she engages in a fair fight and will make it a war of attrition that could last months before we finally oust her. Assuming we succeed, of course."
It was Hammerhand's turn to scowl as though the concept of defeat hadn't occurred to him. It couldn't occur to him, she realized. He needed to believe—or know, rather—that the Knights would win every time or his doubts would spread to his team and make it all worse.
Jessica13 wasn't sure how he intended to defeat Athena, but she assumed he had a plan. She always assumed he had a plan. What would they do to survive otherwise?
"Well then," he said. "I suppose we are now locked in. The die is cast, and we cannot take it back. How do you suggest we proceed?"
"One step at a time, my friend," Tinker said, pushed from his seat, and placed a hand on Hammerhand's shoulder. "We will do what the Knights Mechanica have always done, which is to aid those in need so they can rebuild and live decent lives. Part of that aid is to deal with Athena, and we shall find a way to push her back and hopefully, defeat her once and for all. For now, we would be better served focusing our efforts to help the folks of Auburn to rebuild their lives while we are here. At least that way, we can perhaps influence those consequences for the better."
Hammerhand nodded and squeezed his friend’s hand before it fell away. The older bearded man sat again and resumed his work.
The Knights’ leader walked toward the door, no doubt to where his Excalibur had been harnessed outside, looked at Jessica13, and narrowed his eyes.
"I hope you rested well," he said and his voice once again thundered through the Beast as he walked. She fell into step beside him. "There is still a great deal of work for us to do, and those who can should commit their energy to it. Have something to eat and find Windchime. I'm sure he would be most anxious for your help."
She nodded, ate quickly, and had something to drink before she climbed into Mini.
"I trust you rested well?" he asked as she disengaged the harness.
"I still feel like I could sleep for another week or so," she admitted, took the mech's controls, and guided them out of the Beast. "But I don't feel like I'm about to drop off as soon as I don’t focus on staying awake."
"That will have to do," he replied as they headed out and into the city.
She had slept through the night, and the bright sunlight around her made it obvious that morning had already been in evidence for the past few hours. The Auburn townsfolk were out in the fields where they worked to till the earth and used some of the supplies that had been reclaimed to plant another crop.
While she would have been more than willing to assist them, she knew nothing about farming. Aside from possibly improving the mechs they had adapted for that purpose, there was little she could do to help them there.
Mini highlighted a section of the town's map where he suspected Windchime was and noted that it was only a suspicion in writing above the highlight, which made her chuckle. He guided her to the section of the town where most of their water was drawn from under the ground and their equipment was set up to purify it either for human use or for their crops.
Jessica13 still thought she could come up with a couple of ways that would allow them to use the water more efficiently without it being lost to the atmosphere or under the ground again, but it involved considerable time and effort to set drains up under the fields to collect the water, as well as greenhouses over the fields to keep the water contained.
Folks who had no shortage of the resource would see no point in expending so much time and effort for such little gain. While a part of her still reacted to what she’d considered wasteful for so long, she could also see that perhaps the greater waste would be to use resources for something not entirely necessary when they could be more effectively applied elsewhere. It was an interesting notion and she realized that a narrow perspective might not allow for other circumstances.
Sure enough, as Mini had directed, she found Windchime working near some of the wells, watched by a small group of the townsfolk. Most
